The Great 14th: Film Review

His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama has, since his forced exile from his homeland in 1959, been credited as an author of over 100 books and appeared in dozens of international documentary films (include the strange Russian film, Sunrise/Sunset, released in 2008), not to mention the fictionalizations of his life shaped by Martin Scorsese and Brad Pitt. Still, The Great 14th, which aired on PBS stations throughout 2022, manages to give a novel look at His Holiness’ well-documented life, precisely because it does not directly concern itself with his public image nor frame itself through an editorial lens. Rather, it sits back and lets the man himself tell the story.

Told in a brisk but elegant 80 minutes, the film revolves around a long interview with His Holiness, supplemented by a breadth of archival footage, including remarkable scenery of life in Tibet prior to the Chinese invasion. As His Holiness tells us of his childhood friendships with workers in the Potala Palace — whom he affectionately refers to in his accented english as “the sweepers” — we watch the men in their long black robes carrying flowers all in formation from the palace. The scene and others dissolve some of the distance we might feel with him as a public person, giving us a sense of his personal story through the images that flow from his own memory.

He only gives us his biography up to the moment of his exile in Dharamsala, India when he was twenty-three years old. For the rest of the film, he speaks in general terms about the ideas and principles that guide his everyday choices. He offers, for example, a full explanation of his 2011 decision to dissolve the office of the Dalai Lama of its political authority, explaining that a democratic system would better serve the Tibetan people in the long term, while also preserving the office’s spiritual integrity — something of key importance to the roughly 150,000 Tibetans spread across 40 countries around the world.

Throughout the film, His Holiness demonstrates his unforced yet uncanny ability to balance the needs of the Tibetan culture and people while also the broader global community who follow his words and deeds. In one lengthy section, he explains his consistent emphasis on “religious harmony” and “secular ethics,” in spite of his position as the leader of a longstanding religious tradition. “I never attempt to propagate Buddhism,” he tells us. “No, never…to pray that all seven billion human beings should become Buddhist, I think is wrong.” If one sincerely believes in helping others, that means one should support other traditions and institutions that can lead to their happiness according to their mentality. “That the 7 billion human beings should be happy is very realistic,” he concludes with his elegant simplicity. “That the 7 billion human beings should become believers, I don’t know.”

However, we do not at all get the sense that in purporting this view he has diminished his Buddhist conviction. We seem him in his daily mediation ritual, which he begins at 3:30 in the morning for a 4-5 hour session. He recalls dreams in which Avalokiteshvara, the Buddhist deity whose reincarnation he represents, speaks to him directly. In a moving moment towards the film’s end, he offers an explanation of the Boddhisattva vow, his primary guiding principal in his day-to-day life. “[I will] try as much as I can to make some contribution for inner peace as long as space remains. That’s my daily prayer…So long as sentient beings’ suffering remains, I will remain and try to make a little contribution for peace of mind.” One can debate over the results of his efforts, but the film leaves an indelible impression of a man who at 88 years old has done and continues to do all he can for as long as he can to help those he’s in a position to help.